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Solutions Enabler is a specialized library consisting of commands that can be invoked on the command line, or within scripts. These commands can be used to monitor device configuration and status and perform control operations on devices and data objects within managed storage arrays. SYMCLI resides on a host system to monitor and perform control operations on PowerMax arrays. SYMCLI commands are invoked from the host operating system command line. The SYMCLI commands are built on top of SYMAPI library functions, which use system calls that generate low-level SCSI commands to specialized devices on the PowerMax called Gatekeepers. Gatekeepers are very small devices (typically 3 cylinders) carved from disks in the PowerMax that act as SCSI targets for the SYMCLI commands. To reduce the number of inquiries from the host to the storage arrays, configuration and status information is maintained in a PowerMax host database file, symapi_db.bin by default. It is known as the PowerMax configuration database.
When deploying Solutions Enabler on a VM (a supported OS or vApp), Gatekeepers must be added to VMs as Raw Device Mappings (RDMs) with physical compatibility. This permits the execution of SCSI commands.
Dell supports multipathing with Gatekeepers, whether NMP or PowerPath/VE. The NMP policy of Round Robin and iops=1 should be utilized for Gatekeeper devices.
Gatekeepers may not be shared among multiple virtual machines (e.g., multi-writer flag or shared SCSI bus) regardless of the multipathing software; however, Gatekeepers can be presented to multiple ESXi hosts in a cluster to enable VMware HA for the VM.
Even though the use of virtual appliances for PowerMax management is generally preferred prior to PowerMaxOS 10[16], PowerMax management applications can be installed on virtual machines running supported operating systems. PowerMax Gatekeepers must be presented as RDMs in physical compatibility mode, with a minimum of six per PowerMax being mapped. Otherwise, there are no special considerations for installing and using these applications under virtual machines as compared to physical machines.
Alternatively, systems can be managed using the Embedded Management (eManagement) container application. eManagement embeds management software (Solutions Enabler, Unisphere for PowerMax) on the array, enabling management of the array without requiring software installed on a host.
Solutions Enabler is available as a virtual appliance (SE vApp) up to version 9.2. It can be deployed as a virtual machine in a VMware vSphere environment. The appliance is preconfigured to provide Solutions Enabler SYMAPI services that are required by Dell applications like the SRDF SRA for Site Recovery Manager. It encompasses all the components you need to manage your PowerMax environment using the storsrvd daemon and Solutions Enabler network client access.
The components of the 9.2 SE vApp include:
Note: There is no SE virtual appliance for version 10.0. It is deprecated. Solutions Enabler must be deployed on a physical or virtual host.
In addition, the Solutions Enabler virtual appliance includes a browser-based configuration tool, called the Solutions Enabler Virtual Appliance Configuration Manager. This is seen in Figure 71. This tool enables you to perform the following configuration tasks:
Note: Root login is not supported on the virtual appliance.
The Solutions Enabler virtual appliance simplifies and accelerates the process to provide Solutions Enabler API services in an enterprise environment. It is simple and easy to manage, preconfigured, centralized, and can be configured to be highly available. By leveraging the features provided by the Solutions Enabler virtual appliance, customers can quickly deploy and securely manage the services provided to burgeoning Dell applications that require access to Solutions Enabler API service.
Note: Like any other SYMAPI server, the Solutions Enabler vApp maintains the requirement for direct access to PowerMax management LUNs known as Gatekeepers. A minimum of six Gatekeepers (six Gatekeepers per array) needs to be presented to the virtual appliance as physical pass-through raw device mappings to allow for management and control of a PowerMax storage array. Readers should consult the Solutions Enabler version installation guide available on https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us for detailed description of the virtual appliance.